Marijuana and Cannabis News

It's cool, it's useful, it's CBD-rich... but folks, it ain't "new," and it grows for free all over the Midwestern U.S.

​The supposed "news" from California is that a "new strain of marijuana" has been discovered, one which "strips away the buzz" from pot. Anybody who thinks there's anything "new" about this development has never tried getting high on Midwestern ditch weed (feral hemp), or any strain of cannabis bred for fiber content.

The good news is, the medicinal properties of cannabidiol (CBD) are finally getting recognition. CBD helps to provide many of the medicinal effects of marijuana, and is a separate cannabinoid from THC, which also provides medical benefits but is chiefly known for being a major component of the pot "high."

Nebraska ditch weed, feral descendants of last century's hemp crop. Wild hemp grows across much of the Midwest.

​In fact, the pharmaceutical industry has been so narrowly focused on THC that it has, up until now, mostly ignored the critical role played by the other cannabinoids.

This is the reason that, exciting as it sounds, 100 percent pure, pharmaceutical THC -- as in prescription Marinol -- is so disappointing for the vast majority of medical marijuana users.

The salutary medicinal effects of good cannabis are a result of the complex interplay between all the naturally occurring cannabinoids; reducing that rich symphony of beneficial substances down to just THC is akin to isolating the lead guitar of a music track and calling that the entire song.

In any event, that oversight may be on its way to eventually changing now that David Lampach of Oakland's Steep Hill medical cannabis testing lab has "identified" the CBD-dominant strain, report Jessica Greene and Jodi Hernandez of NBC Bay Area.

Lampach likened the discovery of a CBD dominant strain to striking gold, which is slightly ironic, since this "new discovery" is something for which Californians will now be paying high-ass dispensary prices, despite the fact that it is, essentially, already growing free all over the Midwest.

"I think there are a lot of people who need cannabis and don't want to get high, and for those people, it's a good thing," Lampach said.

Steve DeAngelo, executive director of Oakland's Harborside Health Center, called the "discovery" a major breakthrough.

"One of the great benefits of CBD-rich medicine is that we're able to deliver the medical effects of cannabis to patients without the psychoactive effects, which many patients see as undesirable side effects," DeAngelo said.

According to DeAngelo, Harborside now carries a limited supply of the CBD-rich strain, and hope to be stocking much more of it in the near future.

Medical marijuana advocates say that although the CDB-dominant strain reduces the psychoactive effects of pot, making daily activities easier for some patients, some medical users still need the high-THC strains to address their conditions.